After rumblings that 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings is being targeted for privatisation, diversified group Berjaya Assets (BAssets) has taken steps to achieve this.

BAssets is owned by businessman/investor Vincent Tan Chee Yioun, who has started mopping up 7-Eleven shares on the open market, reports The Edge.

“Something is brewing between 7-Eleven Malaysia and BAssets – a corporate exercise is being contemplated,” the newspaper says, quoting an unnamed source.

BAssets last week surfaced as a substantial shareholder of 7-Eleven Malaysia. It has a 5.1 per cent stake after acquiring 5.1 million shares on the open market and through direct deals.

Tan himself is already a major shareholder in 7-Eleven, along with Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar.

Including BAssets’ stake, Tan has total equity interest of 42.46 per cent in the 24-hour convenience store chain. He also controls BAssets with a 59.36 per cent stake. Sultan Ibrahim is the second-largest individual shareholder of 7-Eleven Malaysia with a 15.52 per cent direct stake, and he also has a 9.38 per cent direct stake in BAssets.

Tan’s Berjaya Retail, the single largest shareholder of 7-Eleven Malaysia, has pared down its stake from 48.62 per cent as at January 9 last year to 31.61 per cent in October.

According to the 7-Eleven corporate website, it has 17,799 stores in Japan, 8469 in Thailand, 5022 in Taiwan, and 477 in Singapore. In Malaysia, it has more than 2100 stores serving about 900,000 customers daily.

Source: Inside Retail Asia